My Own Step Forward (Lukas)

[VeraC]

September 21st, OE 102
Earth Cradle, England
Alkahest HQ
___________________________________

It had been somewhat of an arduous and pain-in-the-ass-at-every-corner journey for Tian Di, but somehow within a month’s time, she managed to find a way to make contact with the man known as Xander Digby. Using her connections to one of the few-remaining Volkruss cult cells embedded within Terra Sentinel, she obtained the man’s contact info and sent out a request for a meeting. The contents that resided within the message would likely be nothing but appealing for the man, another example of that which once tied her to an inevitable fate of death, proving to be a beneficial item to possess in the aftermath of the Cult’s downfall.

That said, as Tian Di was technically ‘allied’ with the Directory, it was hard to reach out to Xander, who was more or less ‘affiliated’ with Terra Sentinel. To what extent he was, she didn’t know, but considering the tensions present between the two, it was a venture she needed to tread carefully in. As such she took the measures needed to take Granzon out for a stroll, so-to-speak, heading towards England, where the Alchemist’s descendant resided. While having never been to England proper, her prior memories at Belfast began to fill her as she arrived, but also reignited her purpose as to why she came to see the man.

As written in the letters between the two, Tian Di arrived in the hangar of Earth Cradle, using Granzon’s wormhole capability to translocate herself from the Directory-owned hangar where the weapon of mass-destruction was held, to England. While the aftermath may be somewhat of a pain in the ass to take care of, she had no real reason to stay aligned to the Directory other than the money they gave her for a monthly stipend, but that was hardly enough to sate her desires.

What she required was something of more substance, of more passion.

Tian Di waited within Granzon, cockpit hatch open, her legs kicked up to the command panel that was pushed to the side of the interior, waiting for the man to make his appearance. Behind the chair was the black box Gail had given to her prior. It was a constant reminder of one of her goals, and the one that needed to be solved first.

When Xander arrived, she would greet him with a simple:

“Xander Digby, it's a pleasure to finally meet you.”

It was a greeting spoken in a somewhat formal tone, if but a bit at the same time, somewhat of a jesting tone. She knew not if the man cared for such formalities, but she was hardly one to care. If the two could get along in a business-like manner, Tian Di needed nothing else from their arrangement.

 

[Lukas]

The Granzon's arrival was heralded by a series of alarms, sirens overlapping to make a solid wall of noise as the room was bathed in red light. Nobody had started shooting - yet - but her appearance had clearly tripped more than a few of the Earth Cradle's systems. A moment would pass before the alarms finally cut out, swiftly followed by a broadcast on the PA systems.

"Dimensional Incursion Alarm deactivated. All staff, please return to work. As a reminder, Hangar Eighteen is off-limits until the CEO's business is concluded. Tresspassing will result in termination."

It wouldn't take long for the man himself to show up, a rare spring in his steps as he approached the Granzon's open cockpit. The Alchemist's descendant was oddly cheerful at first glance, but the cracks would become clear as he finally came face to face. Xander was in that twilight zone beyond exhaustion - bags under his eyes, and even barely-visible cigarette burns on his jacket and trousers.

"Tian Di, in the flesh. You'll have to excuse the alarms.. we've had to up security greatly. Trying to turn those systems off triggers more alarms.. it's quite a bother."

His tone was mostly formal, speaking to Tian DI as he would an investor or prospective buyer. In a way that was all this was - an offered service for a promised reward. Just in this case, the service was the reward.

"But yes, the feeling is mutual. To be presented with such a masterpiece is a gift in and of itself. And to be asked to improve it..."

Xander let out a short laugh, but broke down coughing within seconds. He barely produced a cloth in time to catch the splittle, shining flecks of silver catching the light for a second before the cloth was pocketed. The moment of weakness didn't seem to phase the man much, but it was enough to force him to catch a breath before continuing.

"It's almost a shame Lao won't be around to see me surpass him. I'd hoped to meet the man once I discovered the truth, but it never quite worked out. Possibly for the best.. not that we'll ever know. Although, I understand you knew him personally?"

 

[VeraC]

Tian Di gave a slight scowl at the mention of her former ‘leader’, nothing but poor memories of the past rising up with but his name. She grabbed the black box and lowered herself from the cockpit to the ground and crossed her arms as she walked towards the older man. She looked up at the man’s face, and strangely enough an odd sense of nostalgia nudged her soul, perhaps Xander being similar to the two men that she was surrounded by throughout her youth. Particularly to Vayne; it was almost as if she could smell him on Xander. In one odd way or another.

“That old Geezer got what was coming to him.”

As if to spit on the man’s grave, were he to have one, her lip curled as she spoke, her eyes shifting to the ground.

“Being trapped in a cage for my entire life, it never came off to me just how of a piece of shit he was until he finally kicked the bucket. Hopefully for good.”

Under all forms of common sense he was dead for good, but she knew just what magic was capable of doing, and should someone else know the methods, that man might eventually see another day.

“But that isn’t the reason I came here; as you said, I have a certain goal to accomplish, and you’re likely the only one I can rely on.”

She held the box in front of her inbetween the two of them and allowed Xander to look at it. The item still had an ominous air about it, one that would send chills down both their spines. The contents was quite literally a one-way pass to some purgatory; any normal person attempting it would soon be erased from existence. It was because of this that she needed Xander’s help.

“I looked though Lao’s records and found some written stuff about your ancestor and the place called ‘Crescentia’. With whatever connection you two have, you’re probably the best one to help me here.”

She put the box away once again and began to speak in a more positive tone.

“My request is simple: I’ll give you free reign to tinker with Granzon so long as it is towards making it better. In my moment in Gehenna, I saw briefly just what this machine can do, but with Volkruss dead, a new method needs to be found.”

She looked back to the blue machine and tried to remember just how it was when Volkruss took possession of her.

“And while you’re working on it, I’ll be willing to lend you its strength, should you need it.”

She gave a smile of confidence.

“And if you could give me a bunk to stay while it's here, I’d appreciate it. Qǐng.”

 

[Lukas]

Xander seemed almost completely unfazed by the box, looking down at it with visible confusion. There was clearly some significance to it, some edge he couldn't exactly sense. For now he simply gave it a look long enough to seem like he understood and proceeded onwards. If it was magical in nature, he could figure that out later. The sheer agression regarding Lao did surprise him, though. What little he'd read of the man painted him as a noble but tortured soul, and the modern figure had maintained enough of a positive image that he'd almost fallen for it until the connection was made.

But to truly know a person it was often best to talk to those they considered beneath them. Tian Di's impression was likely truer than any recollection, if somewhat biased by whatever relationship they used to have.

"We all have our goals. I'd love to claim mine are selfless and for the good of us all, but in the end it only matters how well you sell it to the masses."

"Nobody ever admits how much spite and jealousy can power supposedly noble goals. This cradle.. this company was built on my jealousy of my own ancestor - an escapee from that land we call Crescentia. A land of magic, wonders, and incredible, unknowable, arrogance."

A few specks of laughter escaped before the man broke down coughing again, shaking his head. He had no room to talk on that front, but such thoughts had never stopped him before. Every encounter with those denizens of the sealed land had ended poorly one way or the other, and for now he considered most of the mishaps to have not been his fault.

"But in some ways, their capabilities still surpass ours. It will take time to look through my files, but Lao was a close companion of my predecessor - there's going to be something there we can use. And failing that, there's always conventional methods."

Xander paused. Conetmplating something for a moment. While he was happy to have such a machine at his disposal, where could he use it? Lending it to Terra Sentinel was out of the question - they were allies of convenience, nothing more. Frankly, the firepower the Granzon provided was not its strongest point at the current moment.

What mattered was mobility. It could warp in a way his own machinery could not, as proven by the fact that it was in front of him now. A rapid response mechanism with enough force to destroy anything that appeared unexpectedly. The line of thought ended with an amused smirk as he turned back to Tian Di.

"I'll arrange for a set of quarters for you, and for the Granzon's communications to be linked into our rapid response network. My machines can only be in so many places at once, and we don't have the warp or stealth technology the Crescentians love to rely on. Something like your machine would be useful for stomping out that two-bit Nazgul in a more permanent fashion."